Quality Hires Take Front Stage. What’s the Catch? Paying Them Well

Tess C. Taylor, CPC, PHR, SHRM-CP, PayScale Senior BloggerYou may recall PayScale’s Turnover: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly whitepaper in which we closely examined the reasons why employees leave otherwise good workplaces, and dispelled some common myths. What matters most to employers is why employees stay, and this comes from certain generational values and desires. For example, our research indicated that for Millennials, flexible working hours supersede starting salaries, but for older workers the chance to put away money in a retirement fund is much more attractive.</br)

February 26, 2016

You may recall PayScale’s Turnover: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly whitepaper in which we closely examined the reasons why employees leave otherwise good workplaces, and dispelled some common myths. What matters most to employers is why employees stay, and this comes from certain generational values and desires. For example, our research indicated that for Millennials, flexible working hours supersede starting salaries, but for older workers the chance to put away money in a retirement fund is much more attractive.

How important is the financial factor anyhow?

The debate over how closely money is tied to employee satisfaction has been brewing for eons. Money means different things to different people, but our findings point to two universal truths:

1. Working people need money to experience a certain standard of lifestyle

2. Money is used as a measure of value by employers and the compensation they offer

Considering these concepts, it should come as no surprise that employers are ever-mindful of how compensation and monetary values affect their recruitment strategies. It’s become a candidate-driven market, therefore if organizations want to hire the best, they need to offer the best.

New workforce study reveals quality is a number one concern for recruiters

The newly released LinkedIn Global Recruiting Trends 2016 report, advised that four in ten talent acquisition managers around the world agree that quality of hire is the most valuable metric for future employee performance. How are recruiters ensuring they are recruiting the cream of the crop?

• 43% are using social networks to connect with quality talent
• 42% are tapping into online job boards
• 32% are leaning on employee referral programs

The LinkedIn report also revealed that it’s critical for recruiters to offer a stronger starting salary to attract a higher caliber of candidate, and that when great employees are satisfied with their earnings, they tend to refer their friends (who are often high quality talent too).

You want to attract quality talent? Start here!

Now, think about it. If you browse through Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list, that is released year after year, you’ll quickly see that what sets many of these attractive companies apart from the competition is the amount of starting salary and progressive raises they offer. On top of that, they also offer great perks that quality candidates are seeking. You can bet if your company is not on this list that great talent isn’t going to give your company the time of day.

So, the catch when trying to attract quality talent that will stick around and bring their friends too, is to pay them well from the start.